


All Hail The Queen

by angelaxy



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Dark, F/M, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Persephone Goes Willingly With Hades (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Retelling, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25975078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelaxy/pseuds/angelaxy
Summary: One hundred times Reira met him at the Gate of the Underworld and her heart was no longer whole.Touched by darkness, and love.Stolen by Death himself.
Relationships: Vlad/Reira
Kudos: 4
Collections: ( once upon a time ), Ange's Writersmonth2020, Writer's Month 2020, ` Temptation in the Dark `





	All Hail The Queen

**Author's Note:**

> I was frustrated bcs I had to choose from so many pairings and myths  
> but I went with my faves so I'm happy enough xD
> 
> Retelling of Hades & Persephone, but with my own aesthetics & interpretation~  
> xoxo

Never wander to the Underworld. It reeked with blood, and death, and destruction. The merciless King sat on a throne that was built from bones. Be careful, never wander there or you would meet Death.

The warnings went on and on, everyone was shaking with fear on the mention of the King who ruled over the Underworld since the beginning of eternity. Unfortunately, the warnings were temptation in her ears.

Reira wore flowers in her hair, stars in her eyes and fire in her veins, had seen every beautiful creature and flowers ever existed, and she wanted _more_. Perhaps why she stood on the edge of the Underworld now, even the eternal darkness awaited, she held no fear.

In this darkness, she was the light.

_Didn’t they know, darkness was just as beautiful as light._

The butterflies that always followed her everywhere shuddered with fear, they refused to follow her when the girl in white gown stepped farther and farther towards the Gate, where red flowers laid before it. 

All her immortal life, she had seen beautiful flowers, but not this. The flowers before the Gate were colored in crimson. As red as blood. The sweet fragrance was incomparable to any other flowers. “What kind of flower is this..?” Reira knelt down and reached for its stem, but a sharp pain on her finger made her retract her hand. The thorn bit her finger, blood dripping on the ground.

From the dark mist that surrounded the Gate, a figure in dark clothes appeared, his black cape swayed with the howling wind. A silent, menacing presence. The darkness itself seemed to shake and tremble at his appearance. Vlad, none other than the King of the Underworld. A tender smile curved his mouth, but his eyes were an abyss of darkness, he walked in regal posture. A King like no other, wearing death as his crown.

_Oh, he is beautiful._

Breath caught, Reira watched his tall silhouette without unflinching before curtsied gracefully, a sweet smile graced her delicate lips. “You must be the King of the Underworld.” The rumored King who was feared by everyone, and this moment might be her last chance to turn around, to leave and never come back.

But, her heart refused. _Don’t leave, don’t leave — stay._

He stared at her, similar curiosity written in his cold eyes. “The thorn must have hurt you.” He reached for her hand, where the thorn pricked the finger. “They are not ordinary flowers.”

“What kind of flowers, then?” Reira spoke with soft laughter in her voice, light in her eyes.

“Roses. Eternally in full blossom. They only grow in the underworld, one of a kind.” He brought her finger to his mouth, kissed off the blood.

Reira did not pull her hand away, and instead she tilted her head slightly. “Only in the Underworld…?”

Vlad released her hand and plucked a rose nearby. “A gift for you.”

When Reira left, she was clutching the rose tightly because for her it was a treasure. A gift given by the King of the Underworld himself. But it wilted the moment she left too far. Reira returned with the wilted rose in her hand, seeing that Vlad was still there. 

So, she showed him the dead rose. “It wilted.”

“The roses cannot last beyond the Underworld.” He plucked another thorned rose, giving it to her.

“Impossible. Flowers can survive as long as there is sunlight.” Reira herself had known flowers, it was her most favorite thing in the world. Yet, this flower — how different, how intriguing. Curious eyes stared up to him, did not falter under the weight of darkness within his eyes.

“These roses belong here, in the darkness, not even sunlight has the power to preserve its beauty.”

Her curiosity was stubborn enough, and so she kept trying — one rose after another, to where the eternal darkness ended, and it wilted no matter how many roses she brought with her.

At last, for the hundredth time she returned to the gate of Underworld, and Vlad had been standing there, waiting for her appearance. Even if it took millions of roses or the entire rose in the Underworld, he would be waiting for her.

For her, only her.

Somewhere along in her one hundred visits, Reira sensed a feeling she had never felt before. It was different from how she felt towards flowers, or nature, similar but more profound. From what began as curiosity had turned into _affection_. One hundred visits was long enough for them to be familiar with each other. Too familiar, perhaps, with the lingering stares and ghost of touches. 

One hundred one visit, Reira was sitting down on the black grass, surrounded by the red roses, but she wasn’t alone. His head rested upon her lap, she smiled, threading her fingers through his hair affectionately.

Rose petals danced with the wind, swirling around them.

“They said Underworld is dreadful, but no one had ever told me how enchanting it could be.” Sincerely, she smiled down to him, then a soft chuckle left her lips. “How unfortunate that no one ever mentioned how handsomely beautiful you are.“

Handsomely beautiful? Him? It was the first time anyone ever spoke that way about him. Vlad’s fingers reached for her face in soft caresses. “The only one who I can see standing by my side is you.” He murmured, smiling a tender smile. “Come to the Underworld with me. Be it one or hundred of roses, every rose will be yours.” 

_Underworld will be yours to take_. _Be my Queen._

Her heart fluttered like butterflies. “What Underworld looks like behind the Gate?” Reira averted her gaze to the Gate across them, of what might lay beyond.

“Darkness, despair, and death. A throne of bones, with a river of blood.” He spoke the truth, because why would he ever lie? It was his kingdom, his pride, glorious in the darkness.

“And you? Have you been alone the whole time?”

His chuckle was inaudible. “There are more than several underlings who live there.”

Reira was silent for a moment, contemplative as her compassion surfaced. “But, _all alone_? With no one by your side? Must be awful.”

Vlad merely answered with a gentle curve of his lips. No one ever dared to come too close to the Gate. He initially thought she wouldn't return after the first visit, and yet, she kept returning for one hundred times, and more.

Her thumb lightly grazed his lower lip, she offered him a clever smile. The kind of smile that filled with recognition. “You might not answer it with words, but your smile tells me everything.” _You should never be alone, even in the darkness you have been living with._ Soft lips dared themselves to curve in an enchanting smile. “Take me with you, I want to see the Underworld, _everything_.” And her eyes twinkled, like the stars in the darkness.

“The moment you enter the Underworld, you will be bound to me and to the Underworld itself.”

Her fingers moved to trace his face, she inclined her head to a nod, acknowledging the price she would have to pay. “I have grown fond of red roses, if I’m being honest. Allow me to stay with you.”

Vlad was silent, but his eyes alight as he rose to his feet, and offered his hand, helping her to stand up as well.

“I’m fond of you, My King.” She confessed sweetly, her cheeks were in the same shade of his roses.

Her hand rested upon his, Vlad leaned down to place a kiss on her rosy lips, as if to claim her, to answer her fondness with his own. For her, his lips were cold at the touch, but the kiss was pure, tender, possessive at once — a promise of love.

Side by side, poised and regal, they walked under the gentle touch of darkness of the Underworld.

The enormous iron gates opened themselves.

To welcome their Queen.


End file.
